Teachers' perception of children with learning disabilities

Abstract

In this dissertation we focused on how class teachers perceive children with Learning Disabilities. This aspect of research is relatively new and we had difficulty finding research and literature. Therefore in the Literature review we will be looking at different definitions both British (SpLD) and American. In the Literature review we will also examine the causes of Learning Disabilities and some of the characteristics that children with Learning Disabilities exhibit followed by the presentation of a study by Haynes (2000) and Ozkardes (2001). The role of the class teachers is to observe the children's characteristics in order to produce ways that will cater for their needs. Thus the inevitable question arises: How do teachers perceive children with Learning Disabilities in the classrooms? The target groups identified were different schools from different localities in the Maltese context: State and Non-State schools. This research is a replication study from Haynes (2001 ). Through questionnaires we gathered data in order to find out how Maltese teachers identify children with Learning Disabilities. Teachers had to identify children with Learning Disabilities and rate their abilities in different skills. From our data, it is evident that Maltese children with Learning Disabilities have great difficulties in Listening, Speaking, Reading, Writing, Mathematics and Study skills. It was interesting to find out, when comparing our results with those of USA, Japan and Turkey that our findings were very similar to those of USA. On the other hand Japan and Turkey had similar results; Japanese and Turkish teachers rated significantly higher percentages of children as weak in social skills. This indicates that Maltese and USA teachers emphasise more the academic aspect of the curriculum while Japanese and Turkish teachers emphasise more the social aspect of the curriculum.